How to run Nginx with Docker and Docker Compose

Deploy an Nginxweb server inside a Docker container using docker run for quick testing or Docker Compose for production-like multi-service setups.

Step-by-Step: Run Nginx with Docker

1. Run Nginx with docker run

docker run -d -p 80:80 --name webserver nginx:latest

Docker pulls the official Nginx image, creates a container, and maps host port 80 to container port 80. The -d flag runs the container in detached (background) mode.

2. Run Nginx with Docker Compose

Create a docker-compose.yml file:

services:
  web:
    image: nginx:latest
    ports:
      - "80:80"
      - "443:443"
    volumes:
      - ./nginx.conf:/etc/nginx/nginx.conf:ro
      - ./html:/usr/share/nginx/html:ro
    restart: unless-stopped

Start the service:

docker compose up -d

3. Verify Nginx Is Running

curl -I http://localhost

Common Issues

Port 80 is already in use— Another process (host Nginx, Apache) occupies port 80. Stop the conflicting service or map to a different host port: -p 8080:80. See Docker: port is already allocated.